Analysts caution that while the sheer volume of shipments in October could point towards a record October-December quarter for Apple where it could ship well over a million devices.

NEW DELHI: Apple is struggling to keep pace with demand for its latest iPhone devices, especially, the higher priced iPhone 7 Plus with the larger screen size, despite having brought in record units in the lead up to Diwali in October, say retailers and industry insiders.

Analysts caution that while the sheer volume of shipments in October could point towards a record October-December quarter for Apple where it could ship well over a million devices, sustained supply issues could well mean the Cupertino-based smartphone maker may not be able to fully cash in on the absence of Samsung Note 7 with Google Pixel having just started sales.

“There are definitely supply issues and I don’t see it easing up till January because November-December is holiday season in US and Europe, so whatever shipment are generated would be directed to these markets,” said another chief executive of a Delhi-based national mobile retail chain. A top executive at one of the country’s leading mobile retail chain headquartered out of Bangalore said it had been getting a few 1,000 units a week for the iPhone 7 “but even fewer for the 7 Plus”.

Asked about the supply issues being faced, Apple pointed to the statement that chief financial officer Luca Maestri had made in October, during the earnings call for the quarter and year ended September 2016. “Worldwide demand for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus significantly outpace supply, particularly on iPhone 7 Plus, and we're working very hard to get the new iPhones into the hands of our customers as quickly as possible,” Maestri had then said.

Executives at the company told ET said that supplies to India should stabilize within a month. Apple has shipped over 200,000 units of the iPhone 7 in October, and only 56,000 units of the larger-screen and dual-camera variant of its flagship in India last month, far less than demand and inquiries being generated across channels, say retailers. “It seems like Apple did not correctly anticipate the demand,” said Jaipal Singh, senior analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC) India said. “If the supply issue continues for long, then it will be a problem,” he added.

Retailers add that while the Jet Black and Black colour variants across storage variants are the most in demand for iPhone 7, all colour variants — including Gold, Rose Gold and Silver — were out of stock for the iPhone 7 Plus. Apple though shipped in over 430,000 iPhones in October, its highest ever in India, of which more than half (62%) were shipments of its latest flagship series that starts at Rs 60,000, over 30% were the iPhone 6 series, followed by the 5 series and iPhone SE.

The company, which considers the South Asian nation as among the most important emerging markets, brought in 10% higher number of units than October 2015, according to data from Cybex Exim.